SORT-MERGE/XL General User's Guide > Chapter 6 SORT-MERGE/XL Commands

OUTPUT (MERGE/XL)

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The >OUTPUT command is used to designate and create the output file, which is to receive the merged records. Refer to the SORT/XL >OUTPUT command for information on how to use the command within that subsystem.

SYNTAX


  >O[UTPUT]   {fname   } [,num records][, KEY]
              {$STDLIST}

PARAMETERS

fname

The fname parameter represents the actual file designator.

$STDLIST

Using this parameter specifies that the output is to be sent to $STDLIST. The output file is not saved when this parameter is used.

NOTE: In interactive mode the default is NOCCTL. In batch mode the default is CCTL (first byte stripped). To force NOCCTL in batch mode issue the following file equation:
:FILE OUTPUT; DEV=LP; NOCCTL
In this case, do not issue an output command to MERGE/XL.

num records

This parameter should be specified only if one or more input files are not on disc. (It is ignored if all input files are disc files.) It is a positive integer specifying the upper limit of the number of records to be merged and is used as the filesize parameter during the opening of the output file. If one or more of the files is not on disc and the parameter is not specified, a default value of 10,000 records is used.

KEY

Specifies that the output file is to consist of the key fields only, with the major key field on the left.

DISCUSSION

If more than one >OUTPUT command is issued, only the last one is effective.

If no >OUTPUT command is issued, MERGE/XL creates an output file with the name OUTPUT.

If a file already exists with the same name specified in the >OUTPUT command, during an interactive session, the following message is displayed:


  PURGE OLD OUTPUT FILE filename ?

If the response is YES the old file is purged. If the response is NO or you press the Return key, the following message is displayed:


  ENTER NEW NAME FOR OUTPUT FILE

If this prompt is displayed, enter a new name for the output file.

If this situation occurs in batch mode, the old file is not disturbed. Instead a new permanent file, OUTPUTnn (n is a non-negative integer) is created and the following message displayed:


  OUTPUT FILE CLOSED WITH FILE NAME OUTPUT nn

If the above message is displayed the Job Control Word (JCW) is set to FATAL and the job aborts in an error state.

EXAMPLES

The following is an example of using the MERGE/XL >OUTPUT command in interactive mode:


  :MERGE
  
  HP32214A.01.00  MERGE/3000 THU, JUN  4, 1987, 10:00 AM
  (C) HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1986
  
  >INPUT EMPLOYEE, NEWHIRES
  >OUTPUT COMPANY
  >KEY 12, 11
  >END
  PURGE OLD OUTPUT FILE COMPANY.GROUP.ACCOUNT. ? YES
  
                       STATISTICS

  NUMBER OF INPUT FILES =                            2
  NUMBER OF RECORDS =                               20
  SPACE AVAILABLE (IN WORDS) =                  11,164
  NUMBER OF COMPARES =                              18
  CPU TIME (MINUTES) =                             .00
  ELAPSED TIME (MINUTES) =                         .01

The two files EMPLOYEE and NEWHIRES are sorted files that are being merged into the new file COMPANY.

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

Refer to the >OUTPUT command for SORT/XL in this chapter.

LANGUAGE

OUTPUT (SORT/XL)